What are the changes

The suggested changes to the Water Allocation Plan for the River Murray Prescribed Watercourse that need to be made to meet the Basin Plan requirements are about:

• Introducing Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs): set by geographical area, SDLs are the limits on the amount of water that can be taken from the river for irrigation
• Incorporating Aboriginal objectives and outcomes
• Protecting planned environmental water.

Changes to other policies include:

• Changes as a result of the salinity zoning policy review
• Changes to rules regarding pumps on anabranches and backwaters to allow for variable water levels
• Introducing an extraction limit for the upper Pike River anabranch
• Changes to the private carryover policy
• Minor changes to the water allocation framework
• Minor changes to the Environmental Land Management Allocations (ELMA) objectives.

Information sheets have been prepared to explain the proposed changes to the water allocation plan and what they might mean for you:

• Overview of what is changing in the water allocation plan
• Sustainable Diversion Limits and the water allocation plan
• Aboriginal water interests
• Salinity Zoning Policy
• Water Level Variability and Pumping Infrastructure
• Upper Pike River Anabranch
• Private Carryover
• Water Allocation Framework
• Environmental Land Management Allocations (ELMA)